


hello from the other side

by minachandler



Series: (girl)friends don't do that to one another [28]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 3+1 fic, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fix-It of Sorts, Voicemail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minachandler/pseuds/minachandler
Summary: "You have reached Nyssa, daughter of Ra's al Ghul, heir to the demon. You may leave a message."Laurel leaves Nyssa some voicemails. Or the three messages Nyssa missed, and the one message she was just in time for.
Relationships: Nyssa al Ghul/Laurel Lance
Series: (girl)friends don't do that to one another [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/354032
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	hello from the other side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laurel_raatko_lance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurel_raatko_lance/gifts).



> A huge, huge thank you to Mari for having my back while I had a slight meltdown over this. This one is for Laurie, whose encouragement has meant I still am writing Lauryssa.

i) _"You have reached Nyssa, daughter of Ra's al Ghul, heir to the demon. You may leave a message."_

Despite the shitty mood Laurel was in, it was impossible for her not to laugh at that. She'd never gotten through to Nyssa's voicemail before - mostly because they had been around each other so much that the few times Laurel had to call her, Nyssa had picked up after the first few rings.

She realised now though that the message was followed by the beep, so Laurel cleared her throat. "Uh, hey, Nyssa. I - God, this is stupid. Sorry. Not calling you, no, I meant - wow, fuck, I've turned into Felicity.

"Sorry," Laurel said again, fully aware that she was having an entirely one-sided conversation. "Anyway. I'm just - you said to call if there was anything urgent. This isn't urgent. But… I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I didn't need to hear your voice right now. Things are okay. Not bad. Thea's living with me now. She came to me after Ollie and Felicity took off. And it wasn't like I could say no to her - she may not be my sister but, God, she may as well be. And all I want to do is protect her from the world.

"But something is off with her. I don't know what. And I just feel this hollow pit in my stomach and I'm waiting for something to go wrong, for some penny to drop and I'm dreading that moment, because I don't think I could handle it.

"I'll shut up now. I don't even know if you'll get this - God only knows what you're doing in Nanda Parbat right now. If you had it your way you'd be Ra's - in your rightful place. I hope you are. And I hope you're all right. Okay. I -" Laurel hesitated now, the words _I love you_ on her tongue, but how could she say them without wanting to drown in her dark brown gaze like she had done so many times… in the very bed she was sitting on now? "I gotta go. Call me. If you can. Please."

ii) "Hey, Nyssa. I'm guessing you didn't get my last message - or maybe you're too busy training the League. They have an amazing teacher. I should know." A smile was edging onto Laurel's lips despite herself, and she was surprised when her voice cracked a moment later.

"But anyway. It’s been a long day at work and I found myself thinking about you again. You know that saying? How you never know what you're going to miss until it's gone? I wonder if that's how it’s been with us. I - I want to say I can't believe it took me as long as it did to tell you how I felt - but honestly, I think we both know the answer to that.

"That doesn't mean I don't regret saying something sooner, though. I - we… we could have had longer. Weeks, not just days. And I miss that. I need that."

The tears had been forming in a lump in her throat but suddenly it was like the floodgates opened. "Wow, I'm such a mess. And I'm good at hiding it, but I guess that comes with the territory of wearing a mask. I just wonder sometimes, when I'm at work, and someone asks me how I am. And I think about saying what's on my mind - that it hurts my heart knowing I finally found my soulmate and just as quickly lost her - and I know no one wants to hear that.

"That's what I miss about you. When you were in the prison in the old lair, when you found me outside the precinct after your father disowned you - you spoke from your heart and you wore it on your sleeve with this unashamed _pride_. And I know you said to me that you think there's something wrong with you, in how you see the world with too much intensity - but I always thought that was what made you beautiful.

"And I just - wish you were here. So you could see how far I've come, the fact that I've actually mastered wing chun, God - even so I could tell you how gorgeous the stars were last night. There's so much I want to tell you. And I know that if you were here you wouldn't have to ask me how I am. Not really. Because I'd already be telling you all the ways I've missed you - and all the ways I love you."

Laurel took a deep breath. "There. I said it. Maybe it's because I have a feeling you won't hear any of this - and I can't blame you. I know you have your home to protect. Just like I do. But I wanted you to hear it, from me, now. So you know that for me nothing has changed. I understand why we can't be together. But you're still - everything to me. And as long as I'm something to you… that's enough for me."

iii) “Nyssa. I… haven't called in a while. Not like you're getting any of these messages. You didn't mention them when I came to Nanda Parbat.

"Anyway. I'm calling to say I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was wrong. You were right. Sara didn't come back right. And now she's missing. I was keeping her in my basement and part of her was gone already - so really I can't say I'm surprised she managed to escape.

"I don't know what to do. You warned me. You begged me not to and I didn't listen. And I'm reminded that everything everyone has ever said is wrong with me is true. I _am_ selfish. And I make terrible decisions and I let down the people I love.

"You're not going to get this but maybe that's why I keep calling. Maybe it's because I know I can call you a thousand times and you won't answer. Maybe what I'm saying now is what I didn't have the courage to say to your face.

"And don't get me wrong. What I didn't say - I was right not to say it. I was holding back because I knew how ugly those words were to say aloud - that the reason you didn't want to bring Sara back was that then _we_ would become more real. And we'd both have to face up to what we had done, in desecrating her memory just by us being together for the little time we were.

"Or - this is probably the worst part. I thought you saw me bringing Sara back as me making a choice. Between you and her. And what hurts the most is that I don't think there was a choice to make. I know that you'd hate me for saying that, so I didn't. But this is my sister. Or at least… it was. But you were right. Of course you were. She's come back a monster. She doesn't even recognise me. And that hurts a hundred times more.

"But me hurting doesn't matter. People have died and that blood is on my hands."

And now it was like something inside her broke. "This is - I can't take it anymore. Because I caused so much pain - to you, in that prison I left you in, to my sister, to all the people in Star City that are in danger because of me. Hell, to Thea for making her keep this secret with me, as if she doesn't have enough of her own problems to deal with.

"Speaking of. You told Thea her father was the devil. You weren’t wrong. But - God help me, I made a deal with him anyway. So it’s only right that I face the consequences.”

Laurel took a deep breath. “And I think that includes me saying goodbye to you. And it’s too late to say this, but that doesn’t mean I can ever stop saying it - I’m so, so sorry, Nyssa.”

iv) "There's something in my left pouch. Will you bring it to me?" Laurel asked, wincing when she shifted slightly and the IV in her arm nudged sideways a little.

"Sure," Felicity said with a smile, and she rummaged for a second and then held up Laurel's phone. "Here you go, pretty-bird," Felicity said softly.

"Thank you." With alarm as she took the phone from Felicity, Laurel realised that Felicity's eyes had filled with tears. On instinct Laurel covered Felicity's hand with her own. "Hey. You okay?"

Felicity nodded, impatiently brushing the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, I just - what would I have done, Laurel? Without you?"

"You're never gonna be without me," Laurel said without even a second's hesitation.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to -”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Felicity said sternly, but still with a smile in her eyes. Laurel smiled right back.

“Copy that, Overwatch.”

Laurel looked down and started scrolling through her phone's contacts.

"Who are you calling? Your dad's on his way, you know." When Laurel raised her eyebrows in question, Felicity just shrugged. "Tapping into the police radio frequencies is a piece of cake. Ask Sara. When she gets here, I mean.”

“How did you even manage to reach Sara?”

Felicity grinned and held up her hands. “Magic fingers.” Then Laurel chuckled as Felicity instantly looked mortified and hastily added, “You know. To, uh, type. God. I’m the worst.”

But Laurel shook her head and - with some difficulty - pulled Felicity towards her for a hug. “No, you’re the best. Just… will you promise me something?”

“For you, anything,” Felicity murmured into Laurel’s shoulder.

“Don’t ever change, okay?”

“You got it, Canary. Now you do something for yourself, and call Nyssa, okay?”

"How did you - never mind," Laurel said when she saw Felicity was on her way out the door when she turned back and winked at Laurel.

Laughing, Laurel looked down at her phone, thumb hovering over Nyssa's name. She took a deep breath.

"Nyssa. It's me again. I know it's been a while since I've called you. I don't know if you're gonna get this - it's not like you got the others. That I know for sure. You told me as much when I last saw you. Maybe that's why I didn't call you again. But I know it's also because I thought I made my peace with you. That I could let you go after everything that happened in the city with Merlyn - because that's what I thought was best for both of us. And I thought that's what you do when you love someone - that you let them go. That's all anyone who ever loved me did, anyway.

"Then I almost died tonight. I got stabbed with an arrow, and I thought I was a goner, Nyssa. And all I could think about was all the things I never got to do with you because I pushed you away. All the things I wanted to tell you and would never be able to. Most of all I remembered what I said to Ollie, about Sara, actually - how it feels like keeping the people you love at arm's length is protecting them. But it's not. You're only protecting yourself. That's what I did. And I'm sorry, okay? Please, just, uh…" Laurel trailed off, now unsure what to say. "Call me. Please. Just to tell me you're okay. Because after tonight I realised anything could happen. And maybe I wasn't the love of your life. I'm okay with that. But I want you to know, Nyssa al Ghul - that you will always be the love of mine."

With that, Laurel hung up, attempting to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand and then cursing when she almost poked herself in the eye with the IV needle.

"Laurel?"

She looked up, and her vision was blurred for a moment, so all she could see was a vague shadowy silhouette, and for a second she could have sworn her heart thumped to an absolute stop.

"Nyssa?" she whispered disbelievingly. "Is that… is that really you?"

The figure stepped forward into the light, and there was a sharp intake of breath from Laurel as she struggled to sit up. Nyssa strode to Laurel's bedside in an instant.

"Try not to move, ya Laurel. You've lost a lot of blood."

"What are you -" Laurel croaked, but no more words got out as her mouth became so dry she couldn't speak. Nyssa was already reaching for the jug of water on her bedside cabinet and she poured some into a plastic glass, gently tilting Laurel's chin so she could tip some water in her mouth.

"Are you all right?" Nyssa asked, and God, Laurel could have drowned in her stare, gazed up at her beautiful face forever. Now Nyssa was closer, though, Laurel could see the sweat beading on Nyssa's forehead, shiny as it dripped down her nose. "Laurel?"

"I'm okay," she said eventually. She scrabbled for Nyssa's hand and squeezed when she found it. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough," Nyssa said softly. And infuriatingly that didn't mean anything one way or another to Laurel - but Nyssa didn't seem to get that.

"I'm surprised Ollie called you," Laurel mumbled, when the silence had stretched on a few seconds.

Nyssa shook her head. "He didn't."

"So why did you come here?" Laurel asked. There was a tiny flash of hurt in Nyssa's eyes and Laurel, managing with difficulty to lace her fingers with Nyssa, quickly added, "Not that I'm complaining. I honestly can't say how happy I am to see you."

"I believe you just did," Nyssa said - in that blunt honest way of hers that Laurel only now realised she loved. "And I for one am - very, very glad you're alive."

"That makes two of us." Laurel tried for a smile, then nudged Nyssa gently. "Hey. Not that I didn't mean everything I said - because I did - but you still haven't answered my question."

"I was on my way to you anyway."

"Why?" Laurel repeated, her voice barely more a whisper.

Nyssa considered for a second, watching Laurel carefully. "I suppose I just wanted to see the love of my life."

"You don't have to say that -" Laurel said instantly and once again there was hurt in Nyssa's eyes. "I just mean - I know what Sara meant to you, Nyssa. What she probably still means to you."

"I let Sara go," Nyssa said. "Much like you - I thought it was what would be best for us. Only I was right, and you were wrong."

"That's just because Sara's figuring herself out -"

"Yes, and she must do that without me. She can only do so without me. But you -"

"I figured myself out _because_ of you," Laurel said, more to herself than to Nyssa. "I need you."

"But it is more than that, Laurel." Nyssa huffed a sigh and pulled Laurel's hand closer to her, so Laurel could feel the beat of Nyssa's heart beneath her palm. "I need you too. That's why I came back." Nyssa paused, then added, "Besides. I now have a mission - to find the man who did this to you. And to do the same to him.”

It was now that some of the softness in Nyssa’s eyes disappeared, replaced with a hardened steel that was terrifying and glorious in equal measure. It would have been so easy, Laurel thought, to go along with it, to give in to the vengeance she could feel boiling in her own blood too - but she remembered what was on her mind before, managed to extricate herself from her anger, and just in time, too.

“What if - what if I asked you to do something else for me instead?"

Nyssa smiled. "You should know by now that I would do anything for you. In life or death."

At that Laurel's heart soared, and some of her hesitation lessened as she went on. "So… if I said to you that this fight with Darhk isn't mine or yours, and that once I'm stable - I want to fly away from here, with you - what would you say?"

It took a few moments for Nyssa to say anything - her mouth opened and closed several times but no sound came out. Eventually, she said quietly, "Where would we go?"

And now it was Laurel's turn to be surprised. "You mean it? You'd want to go with me?"

"Of course. I'd go anywhere with you, Laurel." Nyssa leaned forward to press a kiss against Laurel's temple, and the skin just below her hairline tingled at Nyssa's touch. "Preferably somewhere sunny, though."

“You’re serious?” Laurel said incredulously. “I was going to tell you to think on it, maybe overnight at least, before you decided, because it’s a big decision. You’d be - uprooting your life. For me.”

"You were the one who showed me that life was worth living," Nyssa said.

Laurel’s smile was so wide she was sure her face would split in two. “How do you feel about the Canary Islands?”

**Author's Note:**

> Et voila! If you enjoyed this fic in any capacity please take the time to leave your thoughts in that comment box below. I absolutely love getting feedback, even if it's just to hear that it made you cry, because it means I'm doing one thing right in life :D Thank you so much for reading!


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